Meanings and Values of Love among Adolescents with Quarrel Behaviors:

Abstract

Objective:

To explore meanings and values of “love” among

adolescents with quarrel behavior, based on Watson’s Human Care

theory and Fromm’s Theory of Love.

Methods: Ten participants, 5

female and 5 male students studying in the vocational schools under

the Ministry of Education, Chon Buri, were purposively selected. All

participants had experiences involving fighting and had been formally

disciplined by their schools. Story-telling with drawing together with

in-depth interview was used in data collection. Semi-structured

questions guided the interview. Thematic technique was utilized for

data analysis.

Results: The findings indicated 5 meanings of “love”

among these adolescents which consisted of 1) love is willingness to

offer, 2) love is being there, 3) love is being open-minded and

accepting the others’ self, 4) love is caring and being considerate,

and 5) love is being involved. Through story-telling, willingness and

acts representing 6 values of “love” emerged. When they knew love,

they desired to be a good person, felt relaxed and relieved, felt

nourished, knew how to appreciate life, knew how to make others

happy, and knew how to do for others.

Conclusion: Concepts of

“love” in adolescents with quarrel behaviors were revealed. Nurses

and related professionals should deal with adolescents as who they

are, with care and acceptance. Adolescents should be allowed to

express freely with accepting manners so that developmental skills

to live with others in a productive way could be promoted.

Key words:

love, adolescent, quarrel behavior, story-telling, drawing